Christina Bauer's Blog, page 82
August 20, 2014
August 13, 2014
***SPOILER ALERT*** What I’m Working On
Here’s what I’m working on now:
SPOILER ALERT
Hey, did I mention that there would be spoilers in here? Well, there are.
ON ANGELBOUND
I’ve been flipping between writing books 3-8 for a while now. For me, it’s the only way I can set everything up properly. Book #8 marks the end of the first full cycle, although I could take a break after book #5, too. The second cycle is an additional 4 books, although we’ll see who’s still reading after book #8 
I also do inspiration boards for my characters. Book 5 is about the grown-up adventures of Myla and Lincoln’s son, Maxon. Book 6 is about their daughter Portia. Here’s an inspiration pic for Portia:
Portia has issues, that’s all I’m saying.
NEW SERIES: SHADOW RAVENS
My character is a Superheroine called Maker. This one is due out in October, 2015. She is so fucking cool I can’t stand it. Here’s one of my inspiration photos for her. She’s like super-McGuyver-ette, if you know what I mean.
Even if it isn’t broken, Maker can fix it.
Tom Hardy is one of the inspirations for Maker’s love interest, Blaze.
The best pic of Tom Hardy ever.
NEW SERIES: REAL-LIFE FAIRY TALES
The first one is a re-imagining of Cinderella as a real-life medieval chick without magic. Trying to get this out for Fall next year. We’ll see. The main character is named Lady Ella. Here’s my latest vision pic for her:
Lady Ella has a lot of thinking to do.
Her guy is Alex, who looks a lot like Johnny Depp but, you know, Medieval:
Alex is a rogue, and we all love a good rogue, don’t we?
NEW FANTASY SERIES: CURSED
Another new unique fantasy universe, yay! This one asks the question: what if we lived in a parallel medieval and magical world where the beauty of our souls became the beauty of our bodies? You do something shitty, your eye withers or whatever. Seems like a good deal right? Wrong. People still find ways to rig the system. And if you’re one of the few who can easily lie their asses off and not get ugly, you are hunted down and cursed. This will come out after Angelbound #8.
The girl in this one is Beatrix. She’s raised in the Cloisters but becomes a con artist extraordinaire. Guess what she can do?
Beatrix is a smart conniver who’s inspired by the young Octavia from Angelbound.
And Bea’s match is Asher. You’re welcome.
There’s a swimming scene with magic and Asher. That’s all I will say.
And since I can’t help myself, here’s one of Asher in his clothes:
Yeah, I may have a thing for Asher.
That’s all for now! Must get back to writing!
The post ***SPOILER ALERT*** What I’m Working On appeared first on Ink Monster.
August 4, 2014
On Writing: Bad Reviews and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
I go through the five stages of grief, per Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, a very cool chick who’s far more than a pair of funky seventies glasses and an amazing umlaut.
The glasses work on her, IMHO.
Kübler-Ross wrote a book that segmented death and dying into five distinct stages. These can be applied to any loss, including the heart-wrenching gap that’s left in my existence whenever I receive a less-than-stellar review, as shown below…
Stage One: Anger.
What the Hell? I didn’t kick your dialysis machine out of the wall, I wrote a book! Yow!
I love this guy.
Stage Two: Denial
This person doesn’t know anything. This review is bunk!
You know I’m getting real when I crack out the old ‘talk to the hand’ shtick.
Stage Three: Bargaining
OK, maybe they had like a point. Or two. I ask folks I trust. Do you think I should change XYZ going forward?
If you don’t already know why I put this picture here, then there is no way to explain it to you.
Stage Four: Depression
OMFG, I SUUUUUUUUCK! This needs to change. I am the worst writer in the history of ever! Must obsessively read good reviews to feel better.
Time for a ‘first world problem’ meme!
Stage Five: Acceptance.
Fuck it. I can change that next time. This is immediately followed by the feeling of, hey, that wasn’t such a big deal after all!
Guess who I am in this picture? No, not her.
So, there it is. Bottom line? I see my writing as a conversation with you, dear reader. And I listen. Although, honestly, I’m much more likely to listen if you give me four or five stars. Just saying
Like how I blah-blah-blah about writing? Check out…
My ultimate enemy
Why it’s OK to suck
Kickass worldbuilding articles
Writing action scenes
Writing softer scenes
Best freaking writing set-up
Everything I know about writing I learned from Liz Lemon
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July 30, 2014
An open letter to that chick who stole my seat on the T
Dear skinny little chick,
Okay, yeah. It was rush hour and there was a massive crush to get onto the T. I get it. And my knee probably won’t bruise too badly from where your massive backpack slammed into it.
But you know what? You suck. I’ll tell you why.
You looked at me with your big doe eyes and said “everybody else was rushing.” That pissed me off. I hate that rationalization with a passion: Everybody else is doing it, which is why I need to labor-fake, or be the thousandth person to troll on this post, or open up yet another sketchy hedge fund. And you know what? It’s rarely the people who break the seal on the ‘bag-o-asshole’ who are the worst offenders. It’s people like you, who think everyone else has passed you by in the race to be a shithead, and so you run fastest. I hate you.
I am you.
I’ve done the same thing, make no mistake. There have been days—too many, actually—where I’ve followed the crowd, gotten swept up in the moment, and then, it was too late. I hit some nice lady in the kneecaps with my backpack. Inwardly, I’d cringe while I, too, sheepishly glanced at her and whispered “everybody was rushing.”
So, when you said that to me, I was pissed for a second before I realized the truth. You were being a little mindless bitch, sure, but you felt badly about it. Now, you were back to being you, which is a good thing ultimately. In reply, I said “it’s cool,” pulled out a book to read, and made a mental note to write a blog post on the subject. Why? Losing yourself is an experience you don’t want to forget, especially if you want to keep repeat performances to a minimum.
And that I most definitely do. Therefore, I thank you, little T-bitch. My knee will heal and with any luck, my mind will remember.
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July 21, 2014
I’m Bringing Soulful Back
Here’s the thing. The way I learned about the soul, it wasn’t music or depth or heart. A soul was a real, tangible entity…And not just in the sense that it weighs 21 grams or whatever, but in the sense that it has an appearance of health or illness based upon my actions. The more time I spent tending to this side of me—or so the concept went—the more my soul grew strong. Now, in the Middle Ages, being strong wasn’t important in and of itself so much. The real rub was that you didn’t want to end up in eternal torment, as that would suck.
The sucky side of having a yucky eternal soul.
That said, the idea of a spiritual self has always appealed to me. Over the years, I’ve started taking note of other cultures that share some version of this same view. For example, in Hinduism, this is the concept of the third eye. How sweet is it for a society to have an accepted physical symbol that represents your level of spiritual development? Extremely sweet.
A lot of third eyes. So lovely.
In ancient Egypt, there’s the Egyptian Book of the Dead. My favorite incarnation of this are maps that show the journey of Ra’s solar barge.
Now, here’s the story on Ra and his boat. When you died—assuming you were lucky enough to get mummified and all that good stuff—the ultimate in the afterlife was to join the god Ra as he rode his solar barge through the underworld each night, bringing back the sun with him in the morning. Is this is same idea as Apollo in Greco-Roman myth? Kinda.
What’s unique about the the Ra version of this tale is that there are secrets you, the mummified nobody, need to know in order to help big bad Ra do his thang. I’m talking here about fancy knowledge like there’s a certain monster that will literally rock the boat unless you help Ra get rid of it. How? By enlisting the help of Seth, the God of Chaos. And don’t we all know monsters that are only killed with chaos? Deep stuff, ancient Egyptians.
Plus, there’s even an elaborate map for the 12 gates Ra’s boat must pass through, and secret tricks for how to cross each one. If you’re lucky, someone painted a cheat sheet of that in your sarcophagus for easy viewing. No, I am not kidding.
Ra travelled in style.
Now, Buddhism takes the whole thing even further with the ideas of chakras. In this construct, not only do you have a soul, and not only is said soul on a journey, but there’s a template for how to move things along so you grow as a spiritual being. Sweet! There are even different practices (like yoga) that can help you develop on your path. I could write a post on each of these levels, and maybe one of these days, I will.
Chakras are so very-very cool.
In closing, I wanted to give a rounding speech on how the idea of a physical soul is critical, especially in today’s not-too-soul-focused-culture. Unfortunately, I sounded like a total cheese ball. So, I’ll instead close by quoting Martin Luther King, who can talk this topic for hours and still sound quite badass:
Thanks, Martin.
Nuff said.
Next week: Chakras explained! Why? Because deep down, I know you’re curious.
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July 20, 2014
My Maxon Scrapbook
To me, this is the quintessential picture of Maxon.
He’s a Prince, so he has to go to lots of formal events looking hot.
And cool as well, of course.
Maxon has a group of buddies as committed to taking life seriously as he is. Which is to say, not at all.
More fun and mayhem with the gang. Look closely in Armgaeddon…you may figure out who they are!
Maxon has a playful side as well, which is adorbs.
This is the essential vibe between Maxon and Lianna. Warriors with benefits.
Can a playboy really fall in love? One guess
A pensive Maxon. Let’s just say things with Lianna get complex.
Time to get his inner warrior on.
Our boy is a badass with a baculum.
Wow, how did this picture of warrior steamy-ness get in here?
And the front cover!!! Woo hoo!!! Preorders are here, people!
Like these? Also in this series:
Prince Lincoln
More Prince Lincoln featuring kissing
Xavier
Myla
Reperio Demons
Furor Demons
Ghouls
Igni
You can see tons more Angelbound inspirations at my Pinterest Board. Like honestly, I have a problem.
The post My Maxon Scrapbook appeared first on Ink Monster.
July 16, 2014
Cover Reveal: Angelbound 4, Maxon!
Take a look and enjoy…
And here’s Maxon’s story:
Prince Maxon may be twenty-two years old now, but he’s still haunted by his boyhood abduction and torture in Hell. To deal with his past, Maxon limits his present-day activities to killing demons and seducing women. No long-term relationships. No combat too dangerous. No problem, right?
Wrong.
Maxon’s called to the battlefield for what seems like an easy takedown of a crazed thrax soldier. What he gets is a close encounter with Lianna, a girl who kicks ass like an angel and kisses like sin. It’s love at first fight. Trouble is, Lianna’s running from a dark history as well, and those enemies are closing in. When Lianna goes missing, Maxon must finally overcome his terrifying past or lose the one girl that could make his future worth living.
Publication date; May 12, 2014
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July 15, 2014
Book Review: TANGLED by Emma Chase
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July 10, 2014
Growing Up Catholic & My Favorite Adult Obsession
Lean in closer, I’ll whisper it to you…
I have a thing for the Middle Ages.
Now, some of you may be wondering how the Middle Ages and the modern Roman Catholic Church could possibly connect.
Good question, you!
For those of who who aren’t in on the R-C, the Roman Catholic church is an ancient org that hasn’t changed much since Medieval times. That’s a good thing and a bad thing, too, but debating the merits of the Church are not the purpose of this post. No, I’m here to over-share how my twelve years of Catholic schooling essentially got me raised in a bubble of the Middle Ages…And how I’m still trying to figure out what that really means.
Enter my major adult obsession (can you say Angelbound?)
Along the way, I’ve figured out these five interesting facts about the Medieval era. Take a look; maybe you’ll find them interesting too. Plus, I put in lots of pretty pictures so if nothing else, it should be a useful time suck.
Fact 1. In the Middle Ages, life was all about the death.
And by death, I mean what happens after you die. Your soul goes on, so it needs lots of care and feeding while you’re alive. The health and well being of your invisible soul was always top of the Medieval mind. I’ll give you an example in action: architecture. What a culture holds most important is often manifested in what buildings end up highest on the horizon. In American cities today, skyscrapers are typically the tallest stuff around, and those are all about non-spiritual stuff like money, money, money.
My hometown, Beantown, where we have a lot of tall bank buildings.
On the other hand, if you ride the Eurail through the countrysides of France, Italy, and Germany, the tallest buildings are almost always the local church. Why? These cities were built in the Middle Ages, and back then, the spiritual life was the ultimate existence.
You don’t need to me to tell you what the pointy building is.
Fact 2. There were a lot of ass-kicking chicks in the Middle Ages.
Remember the pretty French Queen in the movie Braveheart? In real life, she went back to France, raised an army, and kicked her lame-ass husband off the throne. And stuff like this happened A LOT. I’m thinking here about Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabel the warrior-Queen of Spain, and Empress Matilda of Great Britain…and I’m not even thinking that hard. Medieval women also had equal access to owning property and businesses, rights we ladies didn’t have here in the US as recently as 1900. Yipes.
You really didn’t want to mess with Empress Matilda.
Fact 3. Romance novels wouldn’t exist without the Middle Ages.
Yup, you read that right. Romance (as we know it) was pretty much invented during the reign of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Father, the ruler of a big chunk of France and the creator of courtly love. Like it when a guy holds a door open for you? Thank Eleanor’s dad.
She should hold out for chocolates and nylons, IMHO.
Fact 4. Modern politics started in this era, too.
The concept that earthly rulers answered to the people, not God alone, began in the Middle Ages. Magna Carta, ahhhhh.
It doesn’t look like much, but it’s got it where it counts, Kid.
Fact 5. Yeah, it pretty much sucked to live in the Middle Ages unless you were really wealthy.
And even then, it pretty much sucked, too. Life spans were short and the lack of decent dental care meant things got ugly early.
A lovely bit of filth, that’s the Middle Ages.
Up next week: The medieval concept of soul, which is some funky-cool stuff IMHO.
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